Are Americans Arrested in Pakistan Evidence of U.S. Terrorism?

Five young men from the Washington, D.C., area who disappeared last week have been arrested
in Pakistan. They were found at the home of a man with ties to
Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terrorist group thought to be responsible for the
2002 abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
One of the Americans left a videotaped statement that "quoted Koranic verses" and included
footage of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After seeing the
video, the man's parents contacted the FBI. How worried should we be
about these five young men of Pakistani, Egyptian and Yemeni descent,
whose arrest come just days after a Chicago man was charged with aiding the terrorist attacks in Mumbai?

Trend of American Terrorists? Maybe Not Talking Points Memo's Justin Elliot points out that details remain inconclusive. "[T]he case is already being cited
as the latest example in an emerging trend of radicalization of
American Muslims who travel overseas and link up with foreign terrorist
groups," he writes. "[B]ut they have not been charged with a crime and
details of what they were doing are still hard to come by."

Shows Loyalty of U.S. MuslimsSpencer Ackeman insists
the arrests "show signs of the durability of American Muslim resistance
to
radicalization. The arrests wouldn't have happened, for instance, if a
much-maligned American Muslim organization [Council on American-Islamic
Relations] hadn't put the accused's
worried families in touch with the government." He writes, "[A] leading
American Muslim organization, faced with credible fears of
U.S. involvement in terrorism, promptly contacted law enforcement."

U.S. Radicals and Afghan War The New Republic's Michael Crowley calls
this "The latest installment in a disturbing trend of U.S. citizens
found to have connections to radicals in the tribal areas of Pakistan."
He adds, "I'm convinced that this kind of thing--especially the Zazi
case--weighed heavily on Barack Obama's mind when he decided to
recommit the U.S. to Afghanistan."

American Terrorism Abroad?Glenn Reynolds asks, "Is the U.S. now exporting terror?" Dan Riehl shakes his head,
"Great. They're young, all from the DC area and one left a video behind
claiming Muslims needed to be defended. One was a dental student at
Howard University."

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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